Despite all temptations, Sri Lanka has never been very good at merely waiting for the end of the world.  But why is that, and what does it have to do with barbarians and a Hollywood monk?

No other thing, except perhaps Buddhism itself, water technology or Sri Lanka’s island status, has had so marked an impact on the country as cinnamon.  But what did Michael Ondaatje have to say about it that will set you free? 

Rich, salty, earthy, savoury, sharp – gorgonzola is not a cheese common to Sri Lanka, and yet its mere anticipation calls to mind on the island the seven stages of living.  And of them all,  how can you ever manage to make the last, last?

Like the cavalry of old, they raced on to rescue a stricken kingdom from itself.  But what did the Lambakanna dynasty really achieve – and why were they overthrown?

Sri Lanka, like ancient Rome, has strict - albeit invisible - notions of caste and class. And class, not being exclusively human, is no less apparent within its smaller mammalian world – its rodents, and rodent-like cousins: its rats, shrews, gerbils, mice, and squirrels.

Rescuing the nation from civil war and chaos, how was it that the returning Lankbranaka dynasty would then preside over the kingdom’s utter devastation, the like of which the island had never before endured? 

Sri Lanka’s skinks have a degree of subtleness that propels that immaterial attribute into the outer galaxy - fallen angels, perfect for being not what they seem. But how can you ever tell them apart?

She was the pin-up of her times – but was it about the island’s first queen that caused so much disquiet, even now, and where might you still find her?

Is life really what you best hear when you're absolutely still?  And if so, does knowing the names of different trees help at all?

There's more to Sri Lankan cats than their famous leopard.  What happened to its lions, and which beast breaks such wind as to call to mind Jean Patou’s famous perfume, 'Joy'?    srilankapodcast.com